ASEAN Centers promoting cooperation

Secretaries-general and directors of the ASEAN-Korea Center, ASEAN-China Center and ASEAN-Japan Center met to discuss ways of promoting cooperation on the sidelines of the ASEAN Tourism Fair (ATF) in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, Sunday.

They were Chung Hae-moon from Korea, Ohnishi Yoshikuni from Japan and Tri Purnajaya, director in charge of cultural and tourism affairs at the ASEAN-China Centre. They agreed to strengthen relations among the three secretariats and exchange views on various methods of cooperation, which include trilateral efforts for human resources development programs and personnel exchanges, as well as information sharing and joint publication of materials.

The ASEAN centers are international organizations that aim to strengthen friendship and cooperation, engage in various projects and activities for trade promotion, investment expansion and cultural and tourist exchanges between the respective countries and ASEAN.

The ASEAN Plus Three Summit held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, in November, recognized the past activities and achievements of the three secretariats and expressed expectations for further contributions to promote trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges in the larger context of the ASEAN Plus Three framework.

The meeting set the stage for the secretaries-general of the three ASEAN centers to put forth concrete ways to build on the ideas exchanged during previous consultations, and institutionalize meetings among the three secretariats.